Absolutely Juvenile
by LainaLuvLife9
Summary: First there's Sirius Black, attractive, arrogant, trouble,and the school heartbreaker. And then there's Marlene Mckinnon. Being gorgeous, sly, and very bad, she should be Sirius perfect match.That's not the case. Being absolutely juvenile has its ups and downs...
1. Pranksters

Absolutely Juvenile 

Chapter 1

I could feel the wind rustling through my hair. The adrenaline pumped through my veins, making my legs only sprint faster. I giggled to myself of the sensation of it all. Glancing behind me briefly, I caught sight of my two best friends on my heels. There was Lisa, with her choppy black hair flopping in her hazel-green eyes. Then there was Ali, with her regular length platinum blonde hair and ice silver blue eyes. Both were beautiful and sleuthy, just like me. We had just pulled the most bloody awesome prank on the top pranksters in the school, the Mauderer's.

Pulling a prank on the Mauderer's is like suicide. Everyone knows that they are the masters of pranks, but we are slowly taking that title. We had a good reason to prank them anyway. First of all Ali has a crush on one of them, Remus Lupin. He is attractive enough, sure, but he is too sweet and quiet to be Lisa's or my type. Second of all, Sirius Black pulled a Merlin-awful prank on me. But that's another story. So we got back at them by bewitching their Charms quiz so it automatically wrote insults about them. And it wouldn't erase. To top it off, we charmed all of the owls in the Owlery to fly into the Charms classroom and attack all four of them. It was bloody hilarious… I say bloody too much.

So here we are, running for our lives from four very aggravated seventh year boys. I glanced behind me again to see that the Mauderer's were a good ten yards away from us. Good, we have a great head start. I pushed myself to run harder as Ali and Lisa fell into pace with me. I could hear yelling and cursing behind us, which only made my grin expand. I quickly rounded a corner, and before the Mauderer's could catch up I grabbed my girls by the scruffs of their necks and threw them in a broom closet. Then I quickly shut the door behind me and doubled over with gasps. I could only hear heavy breathing for a moment before I heard yelling.

"Prongs their in here!" I heard Sirius Black's voice through the door. I cursed and stumbled over a broom kit, falling on my arse comically. I heard a snort of laughter coming from Lisa and an aggravated sigh from Ali. She gets annoyed at little things, like apparently me falling on my ass. I could hear hushed whispers out of the door, and I struggled to my feet and pressed my ear against the door. I still couldn't make out what they were saying. Dammit.

"If they try to hurt us, just start crying. That gets guys every time, they can't stand to see girls cry." whispered Lisa from a corner of the closet. I could just barely make out her face in the darkness, since the only light in the room was coming from under the door. Just then I heard a clicking noise coming from the door. Then I heard snickers and footsteps leading away.

I grabbed the handle and tried to pull it down, but it wouldn't budge. Shit! I really don't know what I was expecting, but I didn't actually think that they would lock us in a broom closet. I jiggled the handle violently. I took my wand out to open it magically, but when I uttered the spell my wand just made a funny clicking noise and did nothing.

"They did not." Ali gasped, shoving me out of the way and trying to open the door herself. Lisa joined her, but the door was locked through and through. The both groaned and slumped to the ground in defeat, and I joined them.

"Stupid Mauderer's." Lisa sighed angrily. I bobbed my head tiredly to let her know that I agreed, one hundred percent. The Mauderer's were… interesting.

James Potter was the ring leader in most of the pranks and such, and he was very stuck up with his Quidditch Captain and Head Boy badges worn proudly on his chest. He had a huge crush on Lily Evans since, well, forever. I really don't know what he saw in her, she was mostly just a popular little brat with a really hot head. She blew up on him daily, deflating his ego a bit more each time. He wasn't bad looking, but nothing compared to Sirius Black.

Ahh, Sirius. He was very, attractive, I will not deny it. He is practically indescribable, since he actually has quite plain features; just put together they look amazing. It's also the way he holds himself, like he's important and he knows it. But with his long dark hair and stormy grey eyes… he's drop dead gorgeous. I did have a crush on him, in like third year. But then I realized the errors of my ways. Even though he is nice looking, he is a pain in the arse. He thinks he's king of Hogwarts, and is so full of himself that I wouldn't be surprised if he snogged himself in the mirror. And he is just plain annoying, in the way how he goes from girl to girl and screws them over, then moves on. Maybe he looks at me and other girls as sex partners, but I so don't work that way. Okay maybe a little… but not the point.

Then there's Remus Lupin. He is the one who keeps the others in line, even though even he can't resist a good prank every once in a while. He is hot, quite frankly, but not in the way that Sirius and James are. He doesn't have the toned muscles that they have from Quidditch, but more of a lean build. He has light brown hair and blue eyes. He doesn't date, is very sweet, and mostly keeps to himself. He gets ill very often, and there is something very mysterious about him… a secret that only he and the rest of the Mauderer's know.

Then there's Peter. He isn't important really; he's not even that nice looking. He's just plain and odd, but the Mauderer's are friends with him anyway. I don't understand it really… but whatever. As I said, not important.

"Help!" Ali cried meekly. We were tired from staying awake all night planning this prank, and all the running we just did. We are in shape, but it's been a long day. Actually I am on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and Lisa on Ravenclaw's. I am a chaser and her, a seeker, and we both love the sport. Ali is more of a makeup and shopping sort of girl, which neither of us mind since we love those things too. So overall, we all are thin but strong.

Minutes dragged by, all of us making pointless conversation and pounding on the door whenever we heard someone walking by. But the Mauderer's must have put a silencing charm on the door too, because we weren't heard. Hours must have dragged on, the time passed so sluggishly that I couldn't keep track. I heard the bells signaling the beginning and ends of each lesson, and I listened and waited until the last bell of the day rung.

"We have our first Quidditch practice tonight." I groaned. It was the beginning of the year; we had only been in school for a week. So far it had been a great start to my Seventh Year at Hogwarts, except for this small interruption. I counted the minutes as they passed, and after thirty I knew that practice had started. Surely James would come after me; I was his best chaser after all.

Just then we heard footsteps. We all jumped to our feet and started pounding away at the door, even though we knew it was hopeless. We screamed until our voices felt hoarse, and the footsteps neared. We kept pounding but stopped screaming. The footsteps paused, and there was a clicking noise.

Apparently Lisa had been holding the door handle, so we fell through the door and onto the hard ground by the feet of Sirius Black.

I breathed in the fresh air and clutched my side where I had fallen. I heard Sirius's bark-like laughter, and I looked up and glared at him. He widened his eyes all 'innocent' like and put a hand on his chest.

"I am very sorry ladies, I'm not being polite. Do you need a hand?" He held out both of his hands to us, and Lisa and Ali gladly took them. He pulled them to their feet effortlessly, and then offered a hand to me. I spit at him angrily and scrambled to my feet. A plan had formed in my head, and I was only beginning to fill it out. I widened my eyes discreetly to the girls and they both nodded and huffed in fake annoyance.

"Just admit you did it." I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest and starting to walk toward the doors leading outside. Sirius chuckled and lengthened his strides to match mine. The girls hissed at his happiness and he gave them cheerful waves before turning back to me. I could hear their footsteps as they retreated back to their separate common rooms.

"Actually it was James's idea." Sirius admitted, smirking broadly at me. I rolled my eyes and gave him another dirty look. His smile faded.

"Oh come on Mckinnon, you started it anyway." I shook my head at his childlike behavior. His lips turned down in a pout.

"Actually, _Black_," I stressed out the use of his surname, since I knew he hated that. His gaze turned into a death glare. "You started it when you pranked me yesterday." I finished, simpering proudly. He opened his mouth to protest, but closed it once he realized I was right. Success! I pushed open the doors and began strutting across the lawns of the castle. The air was fresh and felt like fall, it was perfect weather to ride a broomstick. I did a couple of victory woops and cartwheel's to bug Sirius, and grinned as I watched him sulk behind me. When we reached the pitch James immediately started screaming at us.

"Sirius! Marlene! Where the hell have you been?" He shouted as I skipped into the middle of the pitch where the rest of the team was standing. I shot James what I hoped was a glittering smile. He sighed in my direction and turned to Sirius and started lecturing him about him 'taking his time' to let us out of the closet. I stepped in at this point.

"Hello? You were the one who thought to lock us in there in the first place!" I retorted. I wasn't defending Sirius really, just trying to make a point. James huffed and gave Sirius a look.

"And you told her that? Whose side are you on?" He complained. Sirius gave him a hopeful smile and leaned forward to whisper something to him. Then they both turned to me. I backed up, since they were both rather large and were obviously ganging up on little ol' me.

"You pranked us. No one pranks the Mauderer's." James said, grinning like a mad man. I walked backwards until my back hit the wall separating the bleachers from the pitch.

"Whoa guys, I know I'm attractive and all…" I said cockily, putting my hands up in front of me. They both smirked, and Sirius's grey eyes gleamed. James fell back and let Sirius walk up toward me, making it so I couldn't possibly go around him. He stood so close that his body was touching mine and I could feel his breath across my cheeks.

"Now it war, baby." He whispered. I raised my eyes and looked into his dark grey ones. His eyes darted down toward my lips and back to my eyes again. Then he leaned in. Before he could get far I arched my neck to one side and slapped his across the face. While he was distracted, I kneed him where it hurts. He fell to the ground whimpering, and I jumped over him and kicked a bit of dirt up behind me, making sure it got into his eyes. He groaned, making me nod my head in approval. Then I giggled and sauntered back to where James was staring, watching with a disgusted look on his face.

"Ow." He commented. I smirked, and accio-ed my broom to my side. I raised my eyebrows at the rest of the team, ignoring the pathetic noises, curses, and complaints coming from Sirius.

"Who's ready to start practice?"

Once I finished a very brutal practice I took a long shower, making sure to scrub the filth out of my hair and off my body. I hummed a cheery tune to myself as I inhaled the beautiful smell of my Sun Kiss shampoo and body wash. It was a delicious-smelling combination of citrus, vanilla, and mangoes. Totally my style.

After my luxurious shower I headed to my detention in McGonagall's room. I got caught snogging someone in her room, and she gave me detention. You see, I've had this semi-crush on Jeremy Wood for the past month, but the only problem is that he's dating one of my friends, Mary McDonald. She's one of Lisa's close friends in Ravenclaw, so Lisa knows her better than I do. Jeremy is a player, in fact he is known from cheating on girls and flirting with everyone. He's not as bad as Sirius, at least he's nicer. So I sort of like him right? So after class we began talking and then after McGonagall left the room we started snogging. I don't mean just regular kissing; we were full on French kissing. Oops.

Then Minnie walked in and gave us both detentions. I (brightly in fact) made an inappropriate comment and got even more detention plus twenty points from Gryffindor. So, here I am, heading toward detention and _not_ looking forward to it at all. Last night I had to file papers and listen to Minnie lecture me about snogging. Not the best time I've ever had, if you know what you mean.

It's also been hard because I've been coming up with excuses for going to detention since Lisa will get pissed if she knows that I snogged Mary's boyfriend. Today I told them that I was going to the library, and they looked pretty confused since I normally did nothing school related after classes. Homework, studying, nope. I wasn't going to waste my time doing work when I could be messing around doing whatever I want.

I wasn't looking where I was going and ran into a little third year. She looked up at me in astonishment, her mouth in a little 'o'. She looked like a right fool.

"Are you Marlene Mckinnon?" She asked, gaping at me like I was some animal in a zoo. I rolled my eyes and planted a hand on my hip.

"Yup. What do you want?" She started rolling ten million questions off of that little tongue of hers. Ah, she's a gossiper. I get a lot of these, since Ali, Lisa, Lily Evans, and I are the most popular girls in the school. Probably because we are the prettiest (well they are, I do not think that I'm that pretty… just kidding, I know I'm sexy.) girls in the school and practically all of the guys in the school are chasing after us. I held up a hand to silence the little bitch, who was practically telling me all of the rumors going on about me. I didn't care, not at all.

"I can't talk, I have detention." I continued strutting down the hallway, ignoring the questions she yelled at my retreating back. I reached McGonagall's classroom, and swung open the door happily.

"Minnie!" I crowed, plopping down on a chair and giving her my most winning smile. I expected her to turn around with a scowl on her face, but instead she turned around with a very, very upset look on her face. When she spoke, my heart literally stopped in my chest.

"Dumbledore needs to see you."

_**A/N: Hey guys! I know this is a pretty common cliff hanger, but mine is a bit different because what Dumbledore tells Marlene pretty much sets the whole story going. So this is my story I came up with when I was listening to Down On Me by 50 Cent and Jermeiah. If you listen to the song, the guy singing the chorus just sounded like a Sirius Black to me, so I got inspired. I think I might actually get somewhere with this, and I have most of the story planned out. Please let me know if I need to revise anything or anything like that! Please please please tell me what you think, and let me know if it's any good! Flames and anything are welcome. Thank you a bunch for reading!**_

_**~Love you lots,**_

_**Alaina**_

_**P.S. Yes, there will be sexual references and cussing in this story. Just saying, I will probably have to rate it Mature soon. I am NOT going to make the references dirty, and I'm not going to use extreme cuss words, so don't think that! Thanks **_


	2. Unexpected News

Chapter 2:

I walked down the corridor, my hands shaking with worry. Had McGonagall told Dumbledore about my snogging? What the hell was going on? I reached his office, and stared up at the graceful stone gargoyles. I realized I had no idea what the password was. Would he be aggravated that I was late? I felt tears prick in the back of my eyes, which was stupid since I hadn't cried since I was nine. And I didn't even know what the hell was going on and I was about to cry? As I will repeat, what the hell!

I banged on the gargoyle, hoping that maybe it would open. I searched for a breach in it so I could pull it open. I found none, and I could have sworn the stone was laughing at me. Maybe I'm going insane.

I have gotten in trouble a lot in my years, but not ONCE had I been sent to Dumbledore. Quite frankly, the man scares me. He knows EVERYTHING, even before it happens sometimes. He's such a genius that he scares me. Smart people are terrifying to me, because they are usually the ones in old films that end up going mad and murdering people.

I knocked loudly again, hoping someone would answer. Just then a voice behind me spoke, making me jump out of my skin in shock.

"You know you have to say a password, right?" Sirius was standing behind me, smirking broadly as I pinned myself to the wall at the sound of his voice. I put a hand to my chest, letting my breathing go back to normal before I replied.

"No one told me the password." I muttered. "What are you doing here?" He tilted his head to one side, that arrogant smirk spreading even wider across his face.

"I got called here, same as you I would expect?" I cursed under my breath and turned back toward the gargoyle. Why would Dumbledore call Sirius and me to his office? What had we done? Maybe it was about the little incident earlier with the owls…. But that wasn't even that bad of a prank! It was quite amateurish now that I think about it….

Just then Dumbledore himself pushed open the gargoyles and stood before Sirius and me. His face was filled with sorrow, and I was somewhat glad because that made him look more human, more real. I was also curious as to what was wrong; I wasn't so cruel that other people's pain caused me pleasure… that was just plain terrible.

"Ah, Ms. Mckinnon. Mr. Black. Please come in." His tone was guarded, and as he spoke Sirius grabbed my arm unconsciously. I shrugged him off and stepped forward, trying to hold my head high and appear as though I was confident about whatever was going to happen.

Dumbledore led us through his strange office, seeming at ease with the clicking instruments and chattering paintings. He led us back to a small room with a grand desk and plush armchairs. He guided us to sit, and we both did so. Sirius looked at me; there was bewilderment in his stormy grey eyes. I lowered my gaze and looked at Dumbledore expectantly.

"It's your family." I blinked in surprise. My family consisted of my parents, my two siblings, and me. My dad was a death eater, and truthfully I resented being his daughter. He was extremely horrible to muggleborns, and I have known that he is a murderer and a cheater since I was born. He and my mother had nearly gotten divorced multiple times since he had cheated on her, and she did not believe in the things the Dark Lord did. I was surprised we haven't been murdered yet.

What had he done? And why was Sirius here? Thoughts and questions swirled around in my mind, and my head started pounding underneath the stress of it all. My breathing quickened, and I could feel two sets of piercing eyes on me. I stared back at Dumbledore, biting my lip in presentiment of what he was going to say next.

"Last night your father was put into Azkaban. He murdered your mother." He strategically paused. My heart stopped in my chest, and I was aware of the tears that built in my eyes. My breathing stopped, before continuing in shocked shallow breaths. No, this couldn't be happening. No.

"Your brother and sister are under your aunts watch, but as soon as your brother turns eighteen, you will be in custody of him." How could his voice remain so calm? My brother had only just gotten out of Hogwarts last year, and now my five year old sister and my life depended on him? The weight of my world was now resting on my reckless older brothers shoulders? I swallowed my tears as I remembered that Sirius was sitting next to me. Suddenly angered filled through me, making my vision go hazy. Why the hell was Sirius here? He didn't need to hear this!

"Why is he here?" I snapped not even bothering to gesture toward Sirius. Sirius mumbled something next to me, but I ignored him and continued boring my eyes through Dumbledore.

"Well, you two both have family problems that are… similar in a way. So the other professor's and I agreed to put you two together for counseling. You two will both be spending free periods with each other and sharing your feelings about what is going on in your family lives. I know that you both need moral support at this time, and I think you both would rather have support from each other than from a counseling teacher." I shook my head, feeling the tears building in my eyes again. I was forced to share feelings with Sirius Black, the absolute ARSEHOLE? Don't we get a say in this? I knew that Sirius hated me as much as I hated him, because we always got into arguments and pranked each other.

"No." Sirius and I both said at the same exact time. We leaned forward to glare at Dumbledore, protests rolling out of our mouths like there was no tomorrow. I tried to push all thoughts of my beautiful, loving, now dead mother out of my head. My chest already ached painfully, the tears hot in my watery eyes. I would NOT cry. Not in front of Sirius. The worst thing to do in front of guys was cry, that's what wimps did. _I will not cry_, I chanted over and over again in my head.

"I'm sorry, but we have already thought this over." Dumbledore replied to our complaints, his voice depressed but firm. "You are dismissed." I stood up loudly, letting my chair screech across the wooden floor. I shot Dumbledore an angry glance before stomping out of the office, letting the door slam behind me.

I started sulking the second I stepped outside, fighting against sobs that wear beginning to rack through me. Sirius was hot on my heels, and the second we stepped outside he pulled me into a hug. At first I recoiled, because I normally avoided touch with all humans as much as possible. Snogging, that was alright. But hugs, and being touchy feely with people made me want to cringe. But right now I was hurting, so I rested my head on his broad, warm shoulder and tried to not let my body shake. I pulled back quickly and continued walking through the hallway.

"Marlene!" Sirius grabbed my arm and spun me around so I was facing him. "I'm so sorry." He whispered his voice raspy and low. I bit my lip to stop any noises coming from my mouth. He paused, and I saw something in his expression that I had never seen before. He was worried, and for me. I was shocked; since he normally was so conceited that he wouldn't even bother to look at anyone pass his little posse of friends. By now there was no use at trying to hold back the waterworks. I turned away as the first tear slipped down my cheek. Then came another, and another, and then I was sobbing. I quickly sprinted away from Sirius, ignoring all of his shouts directed toward me. I ran and ran, letting myself get lost within the walls of Hogwarts. Once I reached a dead end I slumped to the ground and curled into a ball. Then I sobbed all the tears I had been holding back since I was nine years old.

***  
>I ditched lessons all day and wallowed. After I was finished crying I waited until the final bell rang so I could sulk back to the common room without being seen. I only ran into a little first year, who I cussed at when they stopped in the middle of the hallway and stared at me openly.<p>

After that I reached the common room and lay flat on my bed, and slept for two or three hours. The sleep was peaceful and dreamless, just pictures flickering beneath my lids. Pictures of my family. Pictures of my friends. Pictures describing my life.

I woke up and took an hour long shower. I let the hot water burn my skin, and I scrubbed the dried tears off of my face. I slathered myself in body wash, trying to wash away all of my troubles. Of course it didn't work. Fuck my life.

I stepped out of the shower and put on a bit of makeup to cover up the red blotchiness-state my skin was in. Then I put on some sweatpants and a tank top. I curled into my covers, and pulled out a piece of parchment and a clipboard. I let my pen hover over the paper for ten minutes before I finally thought of what to write.

_Danny,_

_Dumbledore told me. Please take care of Annie; she really needs you right now. I am going to try and drop out of Hogwarts to help, I'm in my last year anyway. I know I wanted to be an Auror and all, which would have been cool, but I'll live. Please try to stay out of trouble; the Death Eaters are going to be after us since Dad's in Azkaban. I would get an apartment close to the Ministry if you could, so we can have protection. _

_I miss you; make sure you tell Annie that everything will be alright. She is probably very shaken up and confused, but don't try to hide what happened from her. It will just hurt her later. Please be careful._

_~Love you,_

_Marlene _

I stuffed the letter under my bed, giving myself a mental note to mail it out later. I read it over, the sickly feeling returning to my stomach as I realized what all of this meant. My mother: dead. My dream: ruined. My family: torn apart. Why did this have to happen to me?

There was a loud demanding knock coming from my door. I sighed dejectedly, and sluggishly rose from my bed. The more time I took to reach the door, the more frantic the knocks grew. I finally reached the door, and threw it open. I came face to face with Sirius, who was looking over my slutty tight tank top and baggy sweats.

"What do you want?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "And how did you get up here?" I added after a few moments of thought. Normally the staircase would have turned into a slide so he couldn't come up here, but I guess the Mauderer's found a way around everything. He smiled that irritating smirk, and I sighed in annoyance.

"I have my ways. But seriously," he paused, chuckling. I rolled my eyes; the name pun was the lamest one in the book. "Are you alright?" His eyes changed from devilishly gleaming to anxious in seconds. Any girl would have been thinking _Aw how sweet, he cares about me!_ But I'm not just any type of girl. I knew he was just playing me, trying to make me fall for his tricks. But really underneath all of that 'charm', he was just an arrogant, rude teenager coming from a broken home.

"Perfectly fine, thanks." I spat, clenching my fists to my sides to keep from hitting something. You see, I hit things when I get mad. I know, it's strange since normally only guys do that. But whatever, it's just one of my odd kinks.

"Look, I know you don't want to be open with me (out of all people) for this stuff. But look, it might actually help. We can make each other feel bad for one another and it will make it seem like our own lives suck a lot less. And we can step inside of one another's shoes for once. Be even." He finished his little speech, and I rolled my eyes again.

"We will never be even. That prank that you pulled on me was plain awful." I paused, remembering what he had done. I let myself slip into the flash back. You see, I used to date Sirius's brother, Regulas Black. We dated for about five months last year, but broke it off during this last summer because he was worried that if he did something wrong in the whole death eater business (Yes he's a death eater, but he doesn't want to be) then I would be punished. He was perfect for me really, since he had that edgy bad boy charm along with him being attractive and all. He was the closest I had ever come to love.

But that was then, this was now. I can't deny that I still might feel a bit of something for Regulas, since half of the time I can't get his unique hazel eyes and dazzling smile out of my head, but I have moved on. I have snogged other guys, gotten into their beds, no biggie.

Then last night, when I was a bit tipsy and exhausted, Sirius led me out into the corridor. I had no idea what was going on, but Jeremy Wood was out there with a few friends of his. I bet you can imagine what they were thinking, 'Hey, look a half drunken girl wearing slutty pajamas! Score!' So yes, they messed around with me a bit. We didn't get that far, if that's what you're thinking. They just each took turns snogging me for a bit, but I had the common sense to shove them away when they tried to undress me. Shudder.

And then Regulas came. I have never seen him that furious; normally he stayed calm through everything. But he was _really _pissed. He beat up all of those four or five guys single handedly, and left all of them unconscious. Then he yelled at me for about an hour before stalking off. I can't remember what he said, but something about how dangerous that could have been for me, how I shouldn't be doing stuff like this anymore. I can vaguely remember how at the end of his lecture how his voice became thick and he started blinking a lot more than usual, but before I could register this, he left.

And so my relationship with Regulas had gone from being awkward friends to nothing in one night.

"Look, I'm sorry about that. It was stupid and I didn't mean to have it affect you, just Regulas." Sirius said. I looked at the ceiling, keeping my face emotionless. I was real good at this, I had been practicing for a long time.

"Whatever. I have to go." I started to close the door, but he grabbed it with his masculine hand and pulled it back open.

"Mckinnon…." Sirius whined. He sounded like a pathetic three year old.

"We have nothing to discuss. I'm not going to counseling sessions with you, and that's final." Then I slammed the door in his face.

"I am _so_ sorry Marlene." Lisa took one of my hands in her own and gazed at me sympthaticly. She, Ali, and I were sitting on Hogwarts grounds after dinner, under our favorite maple tree. Whenever we had gossip or something deep to explain then we came here. The tree was perfect, since it was behind the Quidditch Pitch, so no one could see us unless they were actually on a broom. And the branches fanned out in such a way that it created the perfect shade from the September sunlight.

I had just explained to the girls what had happened to my mother. My throat had constricted as I did so, since my mother and I were very close. Its hard to think that just two weeks ago I was home and she was helping me pack my trunk, and we were playfully arguing over if I should take my thongs (I did). My mother was like me in that way; perverted, clever, and sneaky.

"And now Dumbledore wants me to 'discuss' my feelings with _Black_ because we have 'similar issues'." The girls gasped collectively, and I tore out some pieces of grass moodily. I flicked the blades away from me, watching as the wind carried them a few feet away.

"Oh Marls, Dumbledore can't _force_ you to do this. It's unfair." Ali said, shaking her head vigorously. I shrugged, examining the state that my nails were in to seem distracted.

"I'm going to be as stubborn as possible, because the last thing I want to do is share my feelings with Sirius Black." Both of them nodded in agreement, giving my hands quick squeezes before letting go. Then they changed the topic, because they knew me so well. When I was talking about something that upsets me, I only like explaining it briefly then talking about something else to distract me from it. Another reason why I didn't not want to go the counseling sessions, because I hated sharing my feelings.

Ali started gushing about how she tripped in the hallway and Remus had caught her like a right gentlemen. I half listened, half tuned her out as I got slowly absorbed in my own thoughts. I wasn't really surprised my father had done it, he was terrible. I wished I had a different family, a different life. I could see Lily Evans from where I was sitting, talking to a nice looking Hufflepuff boy. Why couldn't my life be like hers? Her life was absolutely perfect, with James Potter stalking her, a lovely family I'm sure, and amazing top grades. Sometimes I wished for a change. Little did I know, change was coming soon.

_**Yeah, so this is setting off the mood of the story. I'm not going to make it that angsty or downing, mostly just humor and messing around. Regular school life, you know? By the way, I like in America so I'm not all that good with British way of speaking. Sorry! Also, I am going to try to update A LOT faster than I have been. Thank you so much for all of you who have reviewed or even read. Please please review on this, even if you think its terrible! Also thanks to **_Kayne_**, I would have replied to your message but you're an anonymous reader so I cannot reply :/ Thanks for your advice though! **_

_**~Lots of love,**_

_**Alaina**_


	3. Lies

Chapter 3:

The one thing I could do for hours and days on end, was sleep. It was just so blissful to be able to slip into unconsciousness, and to not have to worry about what was right or wrong. I barely had dreams, but if I did they were never nightmares. I had never had one terrifying dream, even though I have woken in the middle of the night to find one of my roommates tossing and turning as they tried to escape whatever terror tortured them in their sleep. Maybe that was the only way I was lucky, that I knew I could always escape into peace for at least a few hours.

Since I loved to sleep, I absolutely hated to wake up. I hated the feeling as reality swooped back in and reminded you all of what had happened the day before. So, as I lied in my bed and remembered everything from yesterday, my impulse was to groan and flop back onto my pillow.

"Get up." Ali chucked an outfit over the hangings of my bed, and I slowly sat up, trying to ignore the horrible pounding in my head. I looked over the outfit, which was utterly adorable. A ruffled rustic orange top and a cream mini skirt with low rustic gold heels. I frowned as a thought squirmed its way into my head and shutting out my moment of boggling over Ali's ability of throwing together an outfit that was totally cute, but flattered only me. Weren't we supposed to wear our uniforms every day of the week?

"Ali? We have to wear our uniforms." I informed her, pulling back my hanging and looking at my blonde friend. She was applying some glittery coal black eyeliner to accent her sky blue eyes.

"It's a Friday." She raised her eyebrows at my reflection in the mirror. I looked terrible, with dark circles under my eyes and my cocoa/gold tainted hair in a rats nest. I thought about what she meant by 'it's Friday,' but then I remembered how last year she, Lisa, and I had made a petition that the teachers should allow Friday's to be no uniform days, since it wasn't fair that we weren't allowed to express our style.

"Right." I said quickly, hurrying to the vacant bathroom. I nearly ran into Lily, who glared at me the second I stepped into her path. I sneered at her, hoping I wasn't red in the face. I knew I was a clumsy git, and it bothered me something awful.

After I was completely ready (and looking fabulous might I add) I headed down toward the Great Hall with my arms linked with Lisa and Ali. We walked in perfect harmony, our hips and hair swaying from side to side. Guys stared as we walked past, and girls hurried out of our way. I grinned as a frizzy-haired third year ducked out of our way; it was nice to rule the school.

We were in Herbology with the Hufflepuff's during the last period of the day. We were supposed to be wrestling some plants into pots with multiple spells in a complicated order. I didn't feel like it.

The entire class was red in the face as they muttered spells right after one another, since they were supposed to say them really fast so they would work correctly. The plants were wailing and crawling over the tables. It was interesting to watch, really. Lily Evans was in front of me, and she was the only one whose plant was planted firmly into its pot. She was looking around the rest of the classroom with a smug smile on her face that made me want to smack her.

Next to me, Sirius was already finished also. He was attempting to help James untangle himself from the vines of his plants. Yes, unfortunately, Sirius was my partner in every class now. The teachers thought it might help us 'bond'. No way in hell.

Suddenly Lily turned toward me, her overlarge green eyes gazing at my plant, which I hadn't touched. She pressed her dainty hand to her mouth, obliviously giggling. Keeping her hand over her mouth, she looked at me with a gaze that portrayed her thought she was_ so_ condescending and the queen of know-it-alls. I raised my eyebrows at her, keeping my face emotionless even though I wanted to scream until her pretty little head exploded.

"What do you want?" I growled angrily. This girl pushed me so hard, she was lucky I didn't punch her straight there and then. She brushed a silky strand of glowing auburn hair out of her face. She smiled at me, her eyes twinkling.

"I thought you might need some help." Lily tittered again, her eyes darting from my untouched plant and back to my face again. I don't know exactly what happened next, I just remembered feeling anger beyond any anger I had ever felt before. A red haze covered my vision. When it faded, I was on my feet staring down at Lily Evans, who was passed out on the floor. A strange, neon purple substance was oozing out of her. My wand was in my hand, even though I don't remember moving. The entire class had gone silent.

"Mrs. Mckinnon!" Our professor gasped, walking toward me with horror and disappointment clear in her plump face. She ordered two boys to take Lily to the hospital wing. Then she advanced on me.

"Detention for a month for ambushing a student!" I heard myself gasp, detention for an entire MONTH? I was already behind in my studies, plus I had Quidditch and counseling with Sirius! I had no time for another month of detention. My eyes started to get hot, and I had to take deep breaths to get back under control.

"I hexed Lily," Said a voice from behind me. Sirius stepped forward, purposely avoiding my eyes. What the hell? Why was he trying to step in for me? My mind was a whirlwind of questions. The professor narrowed her already squinty eyes at us. We stared right back at her. There was a long silence, in which I could only hear faint wailing from the plants as they climbed over everyone's books, left unattended. I held my breath. The professor finally sighed when she saw that neither Sirius nor I was backing down.

"Both of you, detention for a month."

"I was just trying to stick up for you!" Sirius complained as I stalked away from him. I wouldn't be surprised if steam was billowing out of my ears, I was that freaking furious. WHY did Sirius do that? Now we were stuck together for even more time than before.

"Oh yeah? Well you're an IDIOT!" I yelled over my shoulder, knowing exactly how bitchy I was being. I slid into the Gryffindor table, piling my plate with greasy foods I knew I would never finish. Sirius slid onto the bench next to me, and I screamed loudly in frustration. The entire hall turned to look at me skeptically, and I just banged my head on the table.

"What's your problem?" Sirius hissed, looking extremely embarrassed that he was sitting next to me. Why doesn't he just get the jest and flipping leave?

"You are my problem, Sirius." I muttered angrily. I heard him sigh.

"You know, Mckinnon, we have spent all of these years hating each other and not doing anything about it. It's our last year of Hogwarts, why don't we just try to at least be civil?" I snorted and snapped my head up.

"Never." I snarled nastily. Sirius rolled his eyes at me moodily and scooted away just as James sat down across from us. He glared at me before turning to Sirius. At first I was confused, James and I had always been friends, but then I remembered he probably wouldn't be happy with me since I hexed Lily. I pushed around a piece of meat on my plate, secretly listening to James and Sirius's conversation since they were talking loud enough so I could listen.

"Just ignore him Sirius, that's what you have been doing for all of your life." James whispered across the table.

"He's threatening Regulas James! I may hate the guy but I can't have him killed because of me." Sirius's voice was low and almost… scared sounding. Who were they talking about?

"Who's he?" I blurted, looking at Sirius questioningly. He froze, and rolled his eyes over to me. He cocked one eyebrow and looked at James, who eye's got wide. I frowned at both of their curious behavior.

"Okay, never mind." I murmured, standing up from the table loudly. I stomped across the hall in a very hormonal fashion. On my way out, Lisa was heading in. She changed her direction and sauntered next to me. She of course looked great, with a lime green mini dress fluttering around her toned thighs. I crossed my arms over my chest moodily, my mind still focused on the James and Sirius's odd conversation.

"I heard about what happened in Herbology, nice!" She held up her hand for a high-five, and I rolled my eyes toward her.

"I'm not happy about it! I may hate Lily but I could have killed her. And now I have detention for a month with Sirius!" I stopped and slumped against the wall, Lisa falling in place next to me. I pushed out my bottom lip in a pout. Lisa looked over to me, a sly grin on her face.

"You need some alcohol?"

Two hours later, our dorm room had turned into a party room. Lisa had enlarged it, and made the lights flash neon colors across the floor. Ali had stolen some vodka from Professor Slughorn, and some snacks from the kitchens. I had invited all the seventh and sixth year guys, and certain girls that I actually liked. No Mauderer's. Before we knew it, music was blaring and our party was in full blast.

I loved drinking. It helped clear my head, which was something I needed very much right now. With my dad and everything, and Sirius on top of it, I was stressed beyond repair. Plus I was also fixing to see Dumbledore soon to tell him I'm dropping out of Hogwarts. I really need to go help Danny, since he will be caring for my sister by himself soon. Plus I am sure he is in grieving as much as I am. My dad is the biggest arsehole I have ever known, yes including Sirius.

I drank a few glasses of beer, and already my words were slurring and my head was pounding. I was dancing with Jeremy Woods, putting my hands in the air and singing to one of my favorite pop songs. I knew Mary McDonald was glaring at me from across the room, but who cares?

I looped my arms around Jeremy's neck, although my attention was else ware. Even though Sirius wasn't invited, he had shown up. He was talking to Regulas, well actually, arguing with Regulas, who looked really really pissed. I turned to Jeremy and kissed his chin, then pulled away and stumbled over to the Black's. Sirius noticed me first, narrowing his eyes at my drunk-self.

"Hey guys!" I slurred, slinging an arm around Sirius, who cringed away from me.

"What do you want?" His jaw was hard. I winked at Regulas before answering Sirius.

"Oh, you're mad a -" I paused, hiccupping. "At me because I didn't invite you. Well I have a good reason…" I pondered what to say momentarily. "Because you're a dick!" I grinned proudly, watching him glower at me. I loved annoying people.

"I already fixed that problem." His eyes twinkled for a moment before going back to his sulking. He turned back to Regulas, who wouldn't even look at me. I skipped away seeing that I wasn't wanted, even though the small sober part of my brain was wondering what Sirius meant by 'he fixed that problem'. I decided that it wasn't important and went back to dancing sluttishly. But I could see Ali and Lisa by the snacks table, and both of them looked really upset. Ali was talking animally with her hands, and Lisa was shaking her head is apparent dismay. They both looked at me and found me watching, and motioned me over.

"What's up?" I garbled.

"Sirius told everyone." Lisa said, her eyes searching mine. I frowned, my slow-working brain trying to figure out what that meant.

"Marlene, he told everyone about your dad. And he told everyone that You-Know-Who is recruiting you too."

_**Hey guys! I am sooooooo sorry about the absolutely slow update. I know I shouldn't have any excuses, but I was on vacation and I was busy with a summer reading assignment. I'm lame, I know. So I'm sorry! I just got inspired again, since I saw Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 in theatres. It was AMAZING, all of you should see it. I'm also inspired to bring Snape into this story, so he will appear in it at some point. Thank you for those of you who have reviewed, I truthfully appreciate every single one of them and take them all into account. I however do not know how to reply to them, as I may or may not have mentioned before. Please review on this chapter, even though I suck! I would love inspiring reviews :D**_

_**I love all of you!**_

_**Alaina**_


	4. Payback

Chapter 4:

So, this is how I ended up in a locked room, wandless, with two armed professors right outside the door, with Sirius Black.

After Lisa told me about the news, my mind went absolutely blank. A thousand emotions whipped through me, but the top ones where betrayal, anger, and fear. Betrayal, because even though I was never friends with Sirius, I had trusted that he wouldn't tell anyone. I never even THOUGHT he would tell anyone. Anger because, not only had he told everyone that my dad was a murder, but also because he lied. You-Know-Who was NOT recruiting me, and now everyone would think I was a death eater. Fear because…. Where would he even get the idea that You-Know-Who was recruiting me?

Anger over took everything. I pushed through people, who were cringing away from me as if I would whip out my wand at any second and kill them. The thought only made me more furious. I made my way to Sirius and without even explaining, starting shooting hex after hex at him. Just seeing him, all casual, not caring that he had completely ruined my life, made me even angrier (if possible).

I wasn't even sure what I was doing; just knowing that each curse physically hurt him satisfied me. He didn't even try to deflect them. Strong arms grabbed me when I lunged to punch him, but my fist still collided with his jaw. I was sobbing uncontrollably, which surprised me since I had never shed a tear in front of anyone. Maybe the alcohol was getting to my head. I looked behind me to see that James was the one who had grabbed me, but professor McGonagall was there and lugged me out of his arms and out of the chaotic dorm room. She practically carried me down a silent corridor. I cried the entire way, not even struggling to break free from her death-grip.

"What happened?" We were in an empty classroom now; that was quiet aside from my chocked crying. McGonagall looked paler than usual, her teeth were clenched together.

"He-he told everyone." She promptly dropped me, and like a chain reaction Dumbledore popped in, shoving Sirius in the room with him. Dumbledore looked merely upset, not even a bit angry. He whispered something to McGonagall, and both of them turned to us. I was busy trying to wipe the tears and snot off my face, well aware that I probably looked awful.

"You two are going to start your counseling right now." I sputtered in reaction to Dumbledore's gravely spoken words.

"What the bloody hell? I do NOT want to talk to him!" I pointed a shaky finger at Sirius, who wouldn't even look at me. Coward. "Did you NOT hear what he did?" I continued.

"Yes, Ms. Mckinnon I did hear what he did. And it was wrong, but he also has a lot of explaining to do." Then both of the teachers slowly backed out of the room, taking both of our wands with them. The second they closed the door I jumped to my feet, ignoring how everything swayed with my every movement. I went all around the room, feeling the walls for any possible hidden doors. There wasn't any, just a whole bunch of dusty unused desks.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked. I spun around and came face to face with him. He had a few cuts, and it looked like he had a bruise on his jaw already. Good. His eyes were sympathetic, but I looked away before I fell under his charm.

"Why?" I snapped. Sirius didn't reply, just lowered his gaze sheepishly. "WHY?" I screamed, making him flinch. I turned away from him and stalked toward the window, trying my best not to start crying again.

"I had no choice." Sirius whispered. I shook my head, snorting. That was a lame-ass excuse and he knew it.

"Tell me. I deserve to know." He didn't answer. Fuming, I stalked to the window and unscrewed the bolts with my fingernails. I pulled the glass up easily. No way in hell was I going to stay in here if he wasn't going to even tell me why he told everyone. The warm fall air spread across my face as I popped open the window, and it was so enhancing that I instantly wanted to just get outside, get away from all of this. I pulled up my leg and put one foot against the windowsill.

"Marlene, what are you doing?" Sirius asked from behind me.

"Getting out." I replied simply.

"Don't, you're going to hurt yourself." I smirked to myself, hoisting the rest of my body up. I crawled out the window, the fresh air rushing all over me. I stood up on the ledge, inching myself to the side of the window. It was no different than standing up on a broomstick, something I do very often in fact. I stared up at the starry sky, just as a large owl swooped through the clouds and away from the castle. I glanced back toward the window, noticing Sirius had poked his shaggy head out of it.

"Get down from there!" He yelled over the high winds. I shook my head, giggling uncontrollably at the thrill.

"Only if you tell me why you did it." My voice became completely serious, and I stared him down. His grey eyes met mine, and he looked away deliberately. I started inching away again, making him look at me again with alarm in his eyes. Then I crouched down, like I was about to jump.

"NO!" He yelped, and I tilted my head at him deviously. He so deserved this.

I leaned forward, and Sirius screamed out again. "Fine, fine I'll tell you! Just, don't." He was shaking his head vigorously. I popped back to my feet very fast, making Sirius clearly wince. I inched back over to the window and climbed back in as swiftly and gracefully as I could manage. Then I leaned against the still open frame, with my arms crossed over my chest.

"I had no choice. Voldemort made me. He told me to send a message to you that he wanted to recruit you. He was threatening to kill Regulas. I couldn't not do what he said." Sirius blurted, his words running together. My breath caught in my throat. I didn't even know Regulas was in that deep… and now Voldemort wanted me? Why me? I knew if I didn't do what he said, he would kill everyone I love, then me. The thought terrified me more than anything ever had before.

"Then why did you tell everyone?" My fury soon returned faster then apparating, when I remembered how everyone knew and probably thought I was a death eater now. I balled my hands into fists, and Sirius sighed and sat down on an old unattained desk.

"I didn't. Someone overheard my conversation and told everyone."

I sat down next to him slowly and put my head in my hands. I knew Sirius wasn't lying either, by the totally sincere look on his face. One thing we didn't have in common was that he was awful at lying, and I was amazing at it. I really wanted to pulverize who ever eavesdropped like that, and had the dignity to tell everyone. But I was exhausted from such a long day, and I already had a lot to worry about besides another detention for harming yet another student. I could sense Sirius next to me on the desk, but he didn't try to comfort me. Some part of me was glad he didn't.

"I'm going to go to bed." I announced, rising to my feet. Sirius followed my actions, and stood in front of me. I tried getting around him, but I was stuck between two rows of desks. I finally just stopped and looked up at him, defeated.

"Wait. Are we….?" He motioned wildly with his hands, unsure of what to say.

"We're even." I supplied for him. He smiled lightly, though his smoky eyes were still troubled. I bit my lip and stared up at him for a moment, unsure of what else to say or do. Then I quickly wrapped my arms around him, in a quick but gentle hug. He hugged me back, and I tried to ignore the butterflies that always appeared in my stomach when I touched him. I pulled away, and with one final look at him, I sprinted out the door.

My first instinct was to go to bed as planned, but my legs carried me else ware. I was absentmindedly wandering down a deserted corridor. There was moonlight streaming in through the glass walls, and even just walking through the beauty made everything feel just a bit better. That's my favorite thing about Hogwarts, just the magical feel to it. Before I knew much about magic, I lived close to Hogwarts. When I would walk by the grand castle, not understanding what it was for, the most peculiar feeling would come through me. And now I understood what the feeling meant, and sometimes it was the only thing that kept me grounded.

I walked by a couple snogging behind a tapestry. Part of me wanted to send a hex at the banner, just to scare them, but I didn't have my wand, and I wasn't in my usual surly, devious mood. I kept walking.

Before I knew it I was standing in front of the hospital wing. Without hesitating I opened the doors and stepped in to the sanitizer-smelling room. I could see sleeping bodies move up and down with every breath; it was so still and silent. I couldn't make out who each person was, though there was a whole bunch of them. I wasn't sure what bed she was in until I noticed the flaming red hair splayed onto the pure white pillow. She stirred as I looked at her, sitting up lithely and briskly. Lily's eyes found mine.

"Marlene." She hissed, in a raspy whisper. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

I slowly tip-toed to her bedside, being careful to not wake anyone. Lily's eyes narrowed at me, her mouth in a perfect scowl. I stood over her awkwardly, shifting my weight from foot to foot. There was a tense silence between us.

"I'm sorry okay? I don't even know why I attacked you, I don't even REMEMBER attacking you…. But I know I did. So I'm sorry." I babbled, watching Lily's eyebrows travel further and further up her forehead.

"I'm sorry too." She murmured, looking at me suspiciously and skeptically. She probably just didn't trust me. As much as I hate to admit it, she's a smart bitch. "I shouldn't have…. You know… been such a…" She trailed off, and I knew exactly why. Lily was definitely one of those people who can admit anything, except that they were wrong. I was one of those people too, I hated making apologies. That was the one and probably only thing that Lily and I had in common. I never would have thought I would have come to a point where Lily and I would actually get along, since we had been rivals since the first day here at Hogwarts. We always would try to outdo one another, and we were great adversities. She would win over the teachers; I would win over the guys. She would win over popularity; and I would win over Quidditch. We had always been against each other.

"Truce?" I asked suddenly, knowing why I had attacked her that day. I know that everything happens for a reason, and you shouldn't question it. That was how life was supposed to be, a mystery until you decided where you are going to stand.

"I never thought you would say that. I'll think about it…" Lily said after she composed herself from her former state of absolute shock.

"Lily Evans, you have a sense of humor!" I joked, and she shot me a grin, nodding her head in agreement. The huge weight that was on my shoulders somewhat subsided, making it much easier to breathe.

"So it's final then." She spoke, and I agreed silently before padding back to the doors of the hospital wing. I didn't look back. The doors, however, flew open before I could reach them. Professors rushed in, none of them even looking at me. I backed into the shadows, watching as the four teachers placed a student on the empty hospital beds. Lily was pretending to still be asleep. Professor Slughorn placed someone in the bed closest to me, and while his back was turned I inched forward and peeked at the unconscious face.

I recognized those features. The barely there stubble on his chin, that scar by his ear, the long eyelashes that would have looked ridicules on any guy besides him. But there was blood on Sirius's face, the nasty maroon liquid was caked into his hair and was visible through his ripped shirt. I had just seen him twenty minutes ago, where could he have possibly gone and gotten hurt like this?

The professors talked in low voices to Madam Pomfrey before leaving the hospital wing as rushed as they had come. I stepped into the full moons light, examining the other teenagers they had put down. My heart thudded uncomfortably as my eyes scanned over a bleeding, moaning James. There was Peter besides him, who was awake but hadn't noticed me. He wasn't hurt as nearly bad. And then there was…. Remus?

Remus Lupin, who had never been in a fist fight. Remus Lupin, who never fully agreed to break the rules. Remus Lupin, who knew how to protect himself. And he looked the worse out of all of them. There had been rumors that the Mauderer's had a secret, but right then, I knew the rumors were true.

When I was walking back to the dorm room that night, now I know I had completed something on the long list of my future accomplishments… and added another one to it. Maybe Lily and I would become friends. Even though it was a bizarre idea, it could work. The next thing on my list, the first thing now, was that I was going to finally figure out what the Mauderer's were up to. And I was determined to succeed.

I still had a lot to worry about, besides finding out the secret. I still have to drop out of Hogwarts. It wasn't my cup of tea; I had been actually working hard to study for O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S, which was difficult for me since I am generally an absentminded person. I had wanted to an Auror since I found out my father was a Death Eater. My mother (without my father knowing) had been one. I had always wanted to follow in her footsteps. But I will deal. Once that was done with I have to say goodbye to… well everyone since I will probably never see them again. That is no doubt the hardest thing on my list; I hate goodbyes. Then I have to take care of my siblings, which on its own in a great task.

As I reached the Fat Lady, I bit my lip and stopped. Thank Merlin she was asleep. My heavy eyes took in every crevice or crack in the wall, trying to take a mental picture. Every part of me ached, since I knew my moments in Hogwarts were limited. I might never see this place again after I leave. After spending most of my life here, I knew it was going to be hard to say goodbye. But it was even harder to detach.

_**Hey yall. I know this chapter was heavy, but I promise the next one will be more lighthearted. I have a great plan for this story, so I want all you readers to be prepared, and to not give up on me just yet. Thanks a BUNCH for even reading this, and thanks even more to those who have reviewed. Please leave a review (even if you already have, each one counts!), it will only take a second of your time and make twenty four hours of mine. I LOVE all of you!  
><strong>_

_**~Alaina**_


	5. Being Irksome

Chapter 5

"Black!" I said cheerfully, sitting next to Sirius at the Gryffindor table. He froze mid-bite of his toast and looked at me oddly. I grinned at him, waving my hand energetically.

"What do you want?" He asked, although it sounded more like a statement.

"What makes you think I want something?" I replied innocently, widening my eyes in puppy-dog sort of look. He rolled his eyes toward me, arching one of his perfectly sculpted eyebrows. I tried to look at credulous as possible, but I could tell he was suspicious.

"Fine, I want something." I admitted sheepishly.

"Knew it." He sighed, shuffling his scrambled eggs around with a fork. He looked somewhat dejected… but I knew better then to ask right now. Normally Sirius was upset about family problems, and if I even mentioned it he would blow up. It's better not to risk it, since it would be my ass that got whopped.

"I know you, James, and Peter were in the hospital wing last night. And I know that Remus is still in there now. Tell me what happened." I demanded. His reaction was delayed, but his silver fork fell to his plate with a clatter. He was blinking rapidly, and I couldn't help but smile to myself. I had shocked the infamous Sirius Black!

"We got in a fist fight." He explained quietly, after a minute or two.

"Yeah right." I snorted unattractively. "The only person who could have done that to all of you would be a gang of Slytherins or Snape. And it was at two in the morning, no one was awake" I peeked at his expression under a gold lock of my hair, almost scared for what he would say. I was sure insulting the hippogriff here.

"Why were you in the hospital wing at two in the morning?" He shot back, his eyes narrowing because he knew I was right. And he probably didn't like the mention of Snape, since he knew that Snape was better at dueling then all of the Mauderer's put together, and it bugs him something awful.

"Answer my question first." I insisted.

"You answer mine!"

"I asked first!"

"No I did."

"NO—" I stood up, looming over Sirius threateningly.

"What are you two arguing about?" Lily inquired, appearing next to me. I jumped back a few feet. What can I say; I don't like it when people appear out of absolute nowhere. I whipped my head back toward Sirius, then back to Lily. She looked better, and there was a glow in her cheeks that I hadn't seen before.

"Lilster!" I crowed. Her nose crinkled up at the name, but I kept going. "You saw Sirius in the hospital wing last night, right?"

"Since when did you two become friends?" He tried changing the subject, but Lily answered just as quick. I smirked, crossing my lean arms across my chest.

"I did see you. What happened?" She tilted her head to the side all cherubic like. Sirius glowered at me, stabbing a new fork rather violently into his hash browns. Then, he popped to his feet and left the Great Hall, muttering angry words under his breath.

"That was weird, why won't he tell us?" I shrugged, putting on another smile. With all this crap going on lately, I decided to just smile through everything and let it go. Be positive! And all that shit.

"I am not sure. But we are going to get it out of him." I gave her a snide look, and surprisingly, she returned it.

"What's his problem anyway?" She asked, crossing her arms over her small chest and tapping her foot. I have never seen her look this devious, and I was proud. With a little work, she would fit right in with me and my girls.

"I guess it's just his time of the month." We glanced at each other warily, before bursting into laughter.

I practically skipped out of the Great Hall. I was alone, since James had engaged Lily in a conversation. I was surprised he hadn't asked her out this year yet, since normally he would be following her around doing anything he could in his right mind to embarrass her, then asking her out and making her get so pissed that she would slap him 'round the face. Then he would act all mopey for a few days before starting the process over again. But I guess even James had matured this year.

"Marlene!" My head snapped up, and I located Ali and Lisa stalking toward me, looking livid.

"Hey girls!" I waved gleefully, pretending that I didn't notice there infuriated expressions. They both looked great, even in our dreary uniforms they managed to make it work. Not a strand of hair was out of place. However, their angered postures ruined the picture.

"You bitch." Normally I wouldn't mind Lisa calling me this, since it was what she, Ali, and I called each other regularly, but it was the way she said it that stopped me. I narrowed my eyes at both of them.

"What's your problem?" I questioned, trying to keep my tone amicable, as well as my composure.

"You're mates with EVANS now?" Ali snarled her blue eyes icier and sharper than ever. Lisa's jaw was tight. I nearly laughed out loud at this. They were seriously this mad because Lily and I had finally come to an understanding? I pressed my hand in front of my mouth to keep from giggling.

"You guys are mad at that? That's bloody hilarious." I chuckled. Lisa whipped out her wand and pointed it at me, mere centimeters away from my nose. I stopped laughing.

"Alright, alright chill." I pushed her wand out of my face and put my hands up in a 'you caught me' gesture. "Look, Lily is actually pretty cool. I could actually see her fitting in with our group now, and I think it's time to get past our old grudges and make nice."

"Marls, we've always HATED Lily Evans. Remember the time she turned your hair purple for an entire month?" Ali tried reasoning with me. I rolled my eyes, remembering that incident very clearly.

"That's exactly something we would do to our enemies. She thinks just like us." I replied coolly.

"Remember all those things she said to James that one day? He was practically in tears." Lisa initiated. I thought about that for a moment. It was two years ago, and James had asked out Lily after he accidently pushed her into the lake. She had screamed insults at him for a whole ten minutes, and a lot of them were uncalled for. James had been upset for weeks.

"Well, yeah. But I say half of those things to Sirius every day." They both sighed exasperatedly.

"Sirius has no feelings; it doesn't matter when you say it to him." I agreed with this wholeheartedly, though I didn't say so. I instead became mildly interested in one of my uneven nails.

"Whatever Marlene. I know you think you're a badass and all, but one thing you never were was a promise breaker. Now we can just add that to the list of things wrong with you." Lisa's words were jagged and stung worse than anything that anyone has ever said to me. Back in first year, Lisa, Ali, and I had promised that we would stand by each other no matter what, that no boy or friend would come between us. They have broken it too… but I still felt guilty. We had never been in an argument that bad before…

***  
>"Tell me." I whispered, poking Sirius with my quill for probably the hundredth time that day. We were in History of Magic. Professor Binns was droning on and on… and I was still trying to get Sirius to tell me the Mauderer's secret. I think I'm actually getting somewhere.<p>

"Leave me alone." Sirius moaned, putting his head in his masculine hands. I tapped my foot anxiously.

"I will if you tell me!" He looked up at me, and I batted my eyelashes for effect. He raised one eyebrow inquisitively. Sirius has one of those faces that is just indescribable, and ever changing. I could pick out little features, like his strong jaw, wavy hair, and slightly crooked nose, but I will never be able to describe how well they fit together. Let's just say he's attractive, to keep it simple.

"I'm never going to tell you, so get over it and go bother someone else." He smirked at me sarcasticly before going back to staring blankly at Binns, who had moved on to the subject of goblin raids. I went back to jabbing my quill into his arm.

"Marlene I swear…" Sirius turned to me after a minute of this, grabbing my quill and not finishing his sentence.

"You swear what?" I yanked my quill back out of his hand and pulled myself so we were practically nose to nose. When all else fails, flirting will always do the trick. I let my eyes go soft and fluttered my eyelashes. I could tell it was working for a second, because his eyes did the thing where they darted from my lips back to my eyes. But then he shoved me away.

"Don't do that." He said matter-of-factly before adding on, "It doesn't work." Then he flashed me that perfect toothpaste-add smile.

"Dammit." I slapped my hand on the table, causing other students to turn around and stare. Binns kept talking, completely oblivious that no one was paying attention anymore. Except for Lily, who was sitting at the front of the classroom and scribbling notes down furiously. Ali was one of the people who stared at me. She glared at me viciously when she caught my eye, and I stuck my tongue out at her when she wasn't looking. Sirius simpered.

"Since when do you not encourage flirting?" I challenged, referring to before I disrupted the class.

"Since I have a girlfriend sitting over there." He pointed to Susan Bones, a plain faced girl who always wore way too much makeup. I snorted and Sirius gave me an irritated look.

"You mean orange face?" I snickered.

"She's a great snogger, that's the only reason I'm keeping her." I let out a sigh of relief, and Sirius looked at me suspiciously.

"I thought you were growing soft with the whole 'I'm sorry, let's be friend's thing', and it was really creeping me out." I admitted, pretending to wipe of my brow. Sirius chose to ignore this.

I was used to Sirius acting this way. I had always been close to the Mauderer's (friend-wise of course, though I did date James once for a month. It was too weird though). We had met in first year, and had been friends for just as long. We played Quidditch together, joked together, told everything to one another. I was one of the boys. Then in fourth year, everything changed. The boys became secretive and stopped telling me everything. Lisa and Ali became the people I would come to for everything. I became the school slut/asshole. Since then, we dropped our friendship for rivalries. However, we all still know that the friendship we had long ago still exists somewhere.

I leaned over Sirius to talk to James at the next desk. "James! Tell me!" I hissed. He gave me that arrogant grin all of the Mauderer's had, and shook his head vigorously. I moaned in the whiney way I do.

"James…." I drew out his name in a hopefully annoying manner. Normally James was the one who enjoyed doing this, and he was particularly good at it. I had learned from the master.

"It's a MAUDERER secret. Not a Mauderer and Marlene secret." James reasoned. I leaned back in my chair, retreating, but not discouraged. Not yet.

I walked through the Great Hall that evening, particularly enjoying the attention I was getting. Most of it was negative attention…. But that's alright since I knew the rumors weren't true. Little kids stared at me from a distance, but sprinted away when I drew too close. Older Slytherin boy's checked me out, some wolf whistling, others just staring un-shamelessly. I kept my pace brisk and my eyes straight in front of me. I was on a mission.

"What do you want?" Severus Snape hissed, pulling me aside. I stumbled, but righted myself quickly.

I had known Severus since first year. We were more acquaintances then friends, but we often came to one another for advice or out of utter boredom. Right now, it was for advice and answers.

"Why does he want me?" Severus seemed to know exactly what I was talking about the moment I spoke.

"You have a powerful family, and you're a very powerful witch." I shushed him immediately as he said this. Only three people knew… well four now. It was one of my deepest secrets that I wished to be kept and not floating around the school.

"You can't go around yelling that!" I hissed, grabbing the front of his robes and glaring at him menacingly. Snape just sneered back at me before shrugging my hands off of the cheap fabric.

"Who told him?" I demanded, my fury rising when Snape bluntly ignored my question.

"Tell me right now you ass!" That got his attention; he looked back at me with an odd glint in his eyes. He twirled his wand threateningly, all while looking at me with a mix of curiosity and humor.

"You want to play the name game? All right then_, whore_." I smirked at his choice of words, since it wasn't unusual for me to be called that. I liked messing with guys heads, it gave me a sense of satisfaction that nothing else did. I have never, not once in my life, felt guilty of breaking hearts.

"Bastard." Even though I spat the word with venom, I couldn't help but smile.

"Bitch."

"_Son _of a bitch!" Severus had to stop at that one, though by now he was chuckling as well.

"That's more of a good one to call Black." He retorted.

"Good idea... I'll have to use that one." I winked at him flirtatiously, and he put back on an absolute straight face once again. It looked useful, to be able to shut off your emotions like that. I sure know that I had no control with mine. At times I would have emotional break downs, and usually Lisa or Ali would be there to calm me down. Right now I had no one, since Lily wasn't used to this me just yet.

"Who told Voldemort Severus? I really need to know. Who's side are you on?" My voice became more and more hysteric with every word as his emotions stayed unchanged.

"Do not say the Dark Lords name. I am forbidden to tell you who have betrayed you, although I can assure you that it was not someone you would expect. And not someone you will be happy with." Snape snarled this in a very low voice. He looked paler than usual, and his eyes were frightened. Severus Snape scared. This was a first.

"Arsehole." I muttered moodily, spinning on my heel and quickly stomping back from behind the tapestry. People gawked at me as Severus walked out after me. My face felt hot, because I knew what they were thinking. And it was bloody sickening.

"Hoe." I heard him call out, and I spun back around. My hair whipped in my face dramaticly. Severus stood a few feet behind me, smirking with that same evil glint in his face as before. The haze returned to my eyes. When my vision returned, Severus's robes were blazing with flames. He was batting them frantically, and the picture made me feel utter satisfaction.

"That's why you don't mess with Marlene Mckinnon." I announced to the crowd standing by with looks of horror on their faces. With a quick hair flip, I strutted back down the hallways, leaving Severus on fire behind me.

_**Hey yall! I truly hoped you enjoyed this chapter; I sure had fun writing it. The next chapter is going to be a big one, I have it all planned out. I'll give you a hint…. There will be Death Eaters and fighting involved. Someone might be going through the veil…. That's all I'll tell you! Pretty please review, with questions, comments, death threat messages, I truthfully don't care. Some feedback would be nice! Thank you to those who have reviewed and read. Oh, by the way I do not own the Harry Potter world or the characters you recognize. Thanks!**_

_**~Lots of love,**_

_**Alaina**_


	6. Bonding and Death

Chapter 6:

I was enjoying a delectable dinner with Lily and the Mauderer's. It had been a particularly tough day; I had pulled a much-needed prank on Slughorn, so now I had detention all next week, next to my detention I had gotten for setting a student on fire. Slughorn deserved it though, by the awful Sleeping Draught potion we had to make. It was fair that I had ended up slipping some in his daily iced-tea.

Also, tonight I had 'bonding' with Sirius.

"Lily can you help me with my Transfiguration homework? You're the best in the class." I promptly dropped my spoon at these words, and drew my gaze to James. He was staring at Lily with a look of innocence, his dark hair having that windswept 'I just got off of a broom' look. Lily looked him over suspiciously, waiting for the punch line. Sirius's eyes were wide with surprise that she was even completing the idea. But lately I had been giving Lily lessons that she should try to become friends with James, since I knew they were both perfect for each other and she just got past the whole 'He's a toerag' stage. And, maybe, just maybe, my advice was going to work!

"Meet me in the common room tomorrow at noon. Sharp." Lily looked over James again, before briskly standing and leaving the Great Hall. James stared after her, his eyes and mouth wide. There was a long silence.

"SHE SAID YES!" James bellowed, standing up in triumph. The entire hall echoed with his yell, and the students fell silent for a moment. Then, everyone burst into unexpected applause.

I grinned as our classmates poured around us, clapping James on the back and congratulating him. Aside from the Slytherins, the three other houses were all there. I never knew that the whole school was just as annoyed with their endless bantering as I was. I guess so. James hugged Sirius, Remus, and Peter, before hugging me tightly.

"Thanks." He whispered in my ear.

"You heard?" I mouthed, since I couldn't do much else over all the commotion. Even thought the teachers were smiling as well, they were now trying to rein their students back in.

"I eavesdropped." James winked at me before sauntering off, making me grin appreciatively. Okay, maybe he was becoming smarter, but in no way anymore mature. Thank Merlin. Since I had been hanging out with the Mauderer's a bit more than usual, I realized how much they had all changed since fourth year. Looks wise, definitely. But personality wise, they had all transformed almost completely. Remus was altogether culminated, and now tried to keep the other boys out of trouble instead of being the ringleader. Sirius had become a whore, but he had also become a lot more attractive and clever. Peter… hadn't changed a bit, whereas James case was that he had just become a bit smarter than before.

"So where should we go for our, 'bonding'?" Sirius asked from next to me once the chattering had died down. I turned to him. He was wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, which made me laugh. He looked truly ridicules doing that, especially because he thought it made him look hot.

"I don't know, where do you think?" I tried to keep my tone neutral.

"The astronomy tower?" I shuddered; everyone knows exactly what Sirius does up there.

"Let's just go to the library." I suggested quickly. Even though I knew Sirius wouldn't actually DO anything since we absolutely loathe each other, but it still wouldn't be the best for my reputation.

"Fine. Be boring." Sirius moaned. I could tell he was in an annoying mood, probably because he was trying to get me back for my constant buggering during the past few days. No, I had sadly not found out their secret. But I did have a plan to find out exactly what they are up to.

Sirius dragged me through the corridors, our Question Sheet in hands. We were supposed to ask each other the questions and reply truthfully. Then we wrote down the others answer on our sheet. Whoopee.

"Alright." Sirius commented loudly, as we settled on some plush chairs in the back of the library. I deliberately looked through the window next to us, pretending to be interested by two kids walking by the lake. They seemed to be arguing. I couldn't make out their faces.

"The first question, what is a secret of yours?" Sirius asked, drawing me out of my trance. I sighed and snuggled deeper into the chair, trying to think of an acceptable secret that I could tell him.

"I love horses." I finally agreed that this was a safe subject.

"Horses?" Sirius frowned at me. I had ridden since I was little, and that was one of the many things I missed about home. Our family owned a small farm. My own horse had passed away in fifth year, and I was devasted for months.

"Okay…. Well I have shagged eight different girls. This semester." I froze mid-sentence, staring at my messy script for a moment before looking at Sirius skeptically.

"You do realize that the professors will be reading these, right?" I asked awkwardly.

"Yes, in fact I do. Maybe if we scare them away then they will stop making us do these stupid sessions." Sirius apprised me. Just then, the idea blossomed in my head, and I couldn't help but simper at the perfect plan.

"Genius. Surprisingly." Sirius smirked at me before looking over the next question.

"What is your favorite color and why? Typical." I read aloud. Trying to think of a gruesome one, I tapped my quill on my chin.

"My favorite is black, because it reminds me of death." Sirius dramatically rolled his eyes to the back of his head. I giggled; this wasn't so bad after all. I scratched down his answer before relaying him on mine.

"My favorite color is Kissin' Cousins because it reminds me of the time my two cousins, Brad and Jared, kissed." Sirius bark laughed, and wrote down my answer jovially. I leaned back in my chair and looked out the window again. The two people were swapping some sort of object between them, both examining it carefully. One held it up to the moonlight, letting the chain dangle and reveal a large majestic locket. Curious.

"What is your favorite hobby that you can do within the school?" Sirius asked, stroking the stubble on his chin. I chortled at his studious look.

"Well, I enjoy Quidditch, but I also very much enjoy sneaking out to Hogsmeade to have a few Firewhiskeys." I nodded appreciatively and scribbled down his answer.

"I assume that one is actually true?" He shrugged, though I knew his grin mean that I was right. "I enjoy stalking Slytherins; they do some very naughty things." I waggled my eyebrows the way Sirius usually does.

"Good one." He praised me, marking down my answer and yawning over exaggeratedly. I glanced at my watch, it was almost nine.

"How can you be tired? It's early."

"I was up late all last night, with the rest of the guys." Sirius replied, lazily lying back onto his armchair. Oh no. Here comes the teasing about their whole secret thing. He knew that it irked me something awful that I hadn't found out yet, though I was still readily determined.

"I wouldn't annoy me so much about that." I said easily, lounging back and narrowing my eyes at the now confused teenager in front of me. "I obviously have something planned to find out what the hell is going on with you four, so I would watch your back if I were you." He rolled his eyes, even though I could tell that he had gone a shade paler.

"Next question." Sirius changed to subject purposefully. While he read over the number four I peered back out the window. Both of the people had walked further down the grounds, though they were still in sight of me. I decided that once Sirius and I were done I would go out there and try to figure out who they were.

"Is there anything you do not like about yourself?" Sirius questioned me. I sighed and contemplated this.

"I wish I was never blonde." I could tell Sirius was trying hard not to laugh at this one, though it was actually true. I decided not to let him in on the meaning behind that.

"There is nothing I do not like about myself, I am entirely gorgeous and amazing." He replied arrogantly, puffing out his chest like a knight.

"Do I have to write down that one?" I sighed. He nodded his head and I reluctantly scribbled it down on my already messy paper. Well McGonagall did say it was only a completion grade….

"What the hell?" Sirius snapped up, his forgotten paper fallen by his feet. He was looking out the window with a wide-eyed shocked expression on his face. I slowly rise to my feet, almost scared of what I would see. Out the window, there were flashes of green and red light, as dozens of hooded figures ambushed the castle. I could barely make out Dumbledore's silvery beard in the moonlight, so I knew the teachers were attempting to fight them off. But there must have been hundreds!

Sirius broke through the window with his foot, the shattered glass splaying everywhere. I sprinted after him, into the murky night. We ducked multiple curses. The Death Eaters seem to freeze when they saw me, and I watched as one of them pressed their wand to their forearm.I kept running though I was shaking and choking back screams. Voldemort must now be on his way.

I saw the two people I saw out the window ahead of us, and I watched as one of them got stupefied. The other lifted his hood, and those gorgeous hazel eyes bored into mine.

"MARLENE, RUN!" Regulas screamed over the sounds of yelling and shrieking. It seemed that just as he screamed that, ten or so Death Eaters surrounded me and Sirius. We were still a good few yards away from Regulas, who was obviously injured.

"Marlene Mckinnon." One of the voices snarled.

"The Dark Lord will be pleased." Another hissed. My heart was thumping so loudly, and all of me had gone numb. So it was true. He was trying to recruit me. My breathing came out in gasps. I didn't have my wand. Sirius and I had left them in the library. Sirius himself was behind me, I could feel his back against mine. I closed my eyes, millions of spells whipping through my mind. But only one seemed appropriate for this moment. _Avada Kedavara. _

The second the words appeared in my mind, there was a low rumble, and the ground seemed to shake. I opened my eyes, watching as spectacular green lights shot from my hands, though everything was tinged with red. The other Death Eater's were watching, as each of their fellow followers around me fell to the ground. The rest of them retreated, shooting spells at a wicked pace while backing up toward the regal gates of Hogwarts. An invisible bubble seemed to surround me a Sirius, sending the curses aimed at us rebounding back to their caster.

I ran over to Regulas just as another Death Eater was approaching him. I saw the green light before I heard my own scream.

I killed the Death Eater, watching in glee as his body flopped to the ground, lifeless. There were tears running down my face. I slowed down once I reached Regulas, but I knew all hope was lost. He was dead the second that curse hit his chest.

The other Death Eater's scattered as another explosion rattled the ground. The cracks of them apparating echoed dully in my ears.

Sirius was next to me, staring at what used to be Regulas with a mixture of horror and anger on his face. I sank to my knees, shaking with sobs. There were teachers around us, but they could only stare. I fell on top of Regulas's lifeless body letting my tears soak through his robes. I felt something cold in his pocket, and I slipped the mystery locket into my pocket without letting anyone else see.

I don't remember much from that, besides Sirius picking me up and carrying me into the now silent castle. Everything was fuzzy, and I felt like I was being suffocated. I couldn't think clearly. I was still crying and screaming nonsense, but at some point I fell silent and passed out in Sirius's arms.

I opened one eye slowly. Everything was blurry, but I could just make out the crackling fire in the common room. Two grey eyes were peering down at me. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes before blinking and looking at a now clear Sirius. I realized I had been sleeping on his chest, so I shifted over so there were a few inches of space between us.

"Why?" I whispered my voice hoarse. I could clearly-too clearly- remember the events of last night.

"I messed up. Dumbledore found out about Voldemort recruiting you. Lily told him. He thought I told the entire school instead of just you like I was supposed to." Sirius's voice was dead sounding, and cracked at the end. I realized what he meant a second too late. Regulas had died because of whoever eavesdropped and told the entire school. And Sirius thought it was his fault.

"I'm going to find out who that damn eavesdropper is." I growled, strength returning to my voice. I stood up fast, ignoring the screams of pain that rang out in my leg. I must have fallen asleep the wrong way, or hurt it when I fell trying to kick Sirius off of me when he carried me inside Hogwarts last night.

"Marlene, don't. It's my fault. We're never going to find out who it is anyway." Sirius stood up after me and grabbed my wrist.

"Who's next Sirius?" He froze at my too-true words. I watched as he mechanically dropped my wrist. "They are going to threaten other people that we care about over and over again. And this person, whoever she or he is, obviously doesn't give a shit about us. If we don't punish them, they will keep killing, and killing." With every word I got closer and closer to Sirius, my eyes brooding. I poked his chest hard with my finger and stared at him for a long moment. He looked terrified, and confused.

"So I am going to figure out who it is, no matter what you say." Then I stomped out of the common room, heading toward Transfiguration. People whispered as I walked down the hallway with my head held high. Every word coming out of their mouths sounded like hoarse whispers of 'Regulas'.

I got to Transfiguration twenty minutes early, so the classroom was completely empty. I placed my orange tote bag in my seat. I slowly sunk into Sirius's seat, putting my bare legs up on the cold table. I laid there for a moment, my eyes shut tight and my brain buzzing.

My first thought was simply, Regulas. Just the name brought back all these memories that I loved and despised. We used to be closer than I ever was with Lisa or Ali, meaning we were best friends before we started dating. And when we did date it all felt absolutely natural. It felt right. And now it was like, all of me was aching because he was gone. There was no goodbye kiss. No goodbyes at all. It hurt like hell.

I wasn't even sure how Sirius was taking this, since he and Regulas had a complicated relationship. They used to be best friends, before Sirius 'betrayed' his family. Ever since Reg had no choice but to pretend he hated Sirius, since he would be disowned if he didn't. And it hurt Sirius… though he would never admit it.

I started shutting everything out. I closed my eyes and put my wand to my head slowly. I relieved myself of the memories, tossing the silvery strand on the floor where it quickly dissolved. I felt like a huge weight had been taken off of my shoulders. Of course the faint memory was still present, but otherwise it was just like taking all of my worries away. It's what I had done after I found the news of my mother and father, and it helped tremendously. I knew only more hurt was to come.

The door slammed open loudly, and I snapped my head up to see Lily rushing over to me. She pulled me into a rib-crushing hug, and for once I didn't recoil from human touch.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered, while I tried my hardest to keep my breathing steady.

"It's alright." I said slowly. She was shaking, and I could tell that she was probably crying as well. I hoped not.

Just then the door slammed open again, rattling the entire school. Sirius sauntered in, looking perfectly cool and calm. He didn't look like someone who had witnessed their brother's death only the night before.

"Why are you here early?" I asked out of curiosity, although it sounded more like a statement. I unwound my arms from Lily, stepping away from her slowly. Lily wiped her eyes and deliberately avoided Sirius's triumphant gaze. What was his deal?

"So the les strikes again." He replied cockily, completely ignoring my question. It took me a moment to process this. He set down his scattered papers and journals as my mouth fell into an infuriated 'o'

"I am not a lesbian! What do you mean I 'strike' again?" I barked, stepping toward him with vigor.

"Well, first being in a broom closet with two other girls is very unacceptable. And now, using innocent Lily." Sirius smirked at me before stepping forward and stroking Lily's chin seductively. A realization struck me, and I immediately wiped the angered expression off of my face.

"I see what you're doing. Well game on Black." Lily slowly backed out of the classroom; brushing Sirius's caressing fingers away. But Sirius and I were too involved in a stare down to pay attention. His grey eyes had a barely noticeable red rim around them, and I felt relieved that he wasn't able of shutting off his emotions completely. But I also knew how he dealt with bad things that happened to him.

"I don't see how you can outdo me this time, since I already made sure the entire school knows about your naughty little affliction." I almost instantly saw red, but I closed my eyes and took deep breaths until I was calm enough to speak.

"Two can play at this game."

Sirius tilted his head to one side. I stepped toward him until we were nose to nose. His breath smelled like crapes, and every time he blinked his eyelash brushed his cheek. I gave him my most innocent smile. He wasn't breathing, and I felt satisfied. I had stunned the infamous Sirius Black. I leaned forward slightly, licking my lips. Then I quickly grabbed the first journal on his desk, which James had written 'Diary' on under a variety of Sirius's attempts to scratch out the word.

I darted away from him, though I felt his hands roughly grab my hips. I twisted and broke free, sprinting out the door. His yells followed me through the corridors. I twisted and turned through unknown hallways, until the crowd of student thinned. His shouts from behind me still echoed through the hallways, before finally falling silent. Then I found myself alone. I stopped when I was close to the stained-glass door of the owlery. I rested my back on the cold marble wall and scrunched my tan legs closer to my chest. Then I opened the journal. Here comes sweet revenge.

The first few pages just had doodles of poorly drawn quaffles and scribbles. There were a few random scrawled names, like Genevieve (the biggest slut at the school, besides me of course), Mary, Susan, and even my name.

The next few pages were far more interesting. He had drawn a few… err, disturbing pictures. Then there was a long list that continued for about two pages. One on side of the page had every girl who goes to Hogwarts full name. Then next to it was her rating from one to ten. Talk about shallow, that bloody idiot. There was Susan Bones (a four), Mary Macdonald (a six), Lily (a ten, James is gonna be pissed), and even me, who he also listed as a ten. Most of the other girls though had VERY low numbers. I could definitely use that against him, and I know I will. I flipped through the rest of the notebook, but there were only some occasional notes and an entire page dedicated to doodles of my name. Well, it seems like Sirius Black did have somewhat of a crush on me after all.

I was shocked, I'll admit it. I never thought he would actually fall for me… like that way. I mean, yes he had attempted to use me for sex before, but not for anything more than that. I had huge crush on him, like forever ago… and he was attractive, but truthfully he has never been really nice. He's arrogant, rude, complex, unstable, and most importantly insensitive.

But yet again, those doodles could have been from a while ago. Or maybe he was just staring at the back of my head one day during class and absentmindedly wrote my name down. Some small part of me hoped that he didn't, but yet again I didn't need his type of complications in my life. I was already weighed down enough.

I finished my pondering and decided, firmly, that I would never give in to him. Even if his so-called crush was true. No matter how much he flirted, sweet-talked, showed off, made moves, or anything else, I would never give in. I would not fall for Sirius Black.

_**Hey guys! I really personally like this story, so I'm probably going to be updating it a lot lately. I hope yall are enjoying it as well, so if you are please review. Tell me what you think, and what you think I should change, or what I'm doing well. I want to be an author once I grow up, so please, I beg of you, give me feedback. I think writing young will really help me in the future, but if no one tells me what I'm doing wrong then I can't improve. And it makes my day to get a review, good or bad feedback. So please review! Thank you, I love you guys!**_

_**~Lots of love,**_

_**Alaina**_


	7. Revenge

Chapter 7:

"_Stupefy!_" Sirius yelled, his tense voice echoing through the Great Hall. I deflected the curse with ease, grinning as his face turned redder and redder. He had found the list that was oh-so-obviously posted on the school's main bulletin board between the Charms and Transfiguration classroom.

He had sent the first curse flying at me the second I had sat down to breakfast. I had protected myself from everyone, which only made him angrier.

He sent three silent leg-locking curses at me, but I lazily flicked my wand to send them flying back into his direction. He pushed them away with disgust in his eyes. None of the teachers even tried to do anything. Dumbledore looked merely concerned, Slughorn amused, and McGonagall had her head in her hands. The entire school watched.

"Give it up Black." I said as I swiped my wand around myself, saying the silent incantation for a force-field like bubble to backfire any curses he sent with me. It took him all of a minute to realize it, but by then he already had a silencing curse and a full body bind curse placed on him.

I walked over to him, towering over him. He glared up at me. I was somewhat surprised that the rest of the Mauderer's hadn't come to his rescue yet. But I knew that James was pissed (as I predicted) and Remus didn't want to interfere. Peter was probably sleeping. Lily was staring at us with concern and fire in her emerald eyes.

"I told you I would get revenge." I said easily.

"Undo the curses, Miss. Mckinnon." McGonagall finally came to her senses, and rose from her chair.

"As long he doesn't try to hex me anymore, I'd be glad to." Her mouth went into a thin line. She flicked her wand and Sirius let out a few dramatic pants before hopping to his feet. He let out a stream of cuss words directed towards me.

"My office, both of you." Sirius stormed past me and out the doors of the hallway. I watched him go, smirking.

"Can I at least grab some food first?" I asked her. The talking slowly began again, even though numerous people were still staring at me. She sighed, but nodded and followed Sirius through the door.

I strolled over to the table, feeling on top of the world. Last night I had met up with Jeremy Wood, who I had been contacting again. He apologized for the whole taking advantage of me thing that night so long ago, but there was really no need for that. Except this time I wouldn't call it "taking advantage of me", since I did it rather willingly. He was pretty good.

Of course we weren't dating though. I made that very clear to him and other one-time shaggers.

I grabbed a croissant and stuffed it into my mouth. I rolled the buttery cream around my tongue, satisfied with the taste. James glared at me from his spot next to Lily. The two were so much more civil to one another since their night together doing homework. I never had the time to ask Lily how that went, but I assumed that it went rather well.

Lily gave me a weak smile, but I barely noticed because I was too busy raising my eyebrows at James. He looked pretty pissed.

"Thanks. Thanks a lot." He snapped, his usually warm hazel eyes clouded.

"I don't get it. What's your deal?" Remus sighed and looked me over warily. I raised an eyebrow at him too, since his wariness was very obviously directed towards me.

"You do realize why Sirius is so mad… right?" Remus replied for James, since he was too busy speaking with Lily in low sharp tones to converse with me now. I pondered his question. I thought he was just mad at me in general… ya know? I mean I did post his private journal where everyone could see. I admit I would be a little pissed too. But it was just a form of revenge.

"James isn't talking to him anymore. Whether or not you care, you've completely ruined whatever friendship they had. Congrats." Remus stage-whispered towards me across the table, spitting the last word at me with venom in voice. I recoiled from him, surprised at his rude behavior. Usually Remus was always kind to me.

As I walked toward McGonagall's office while munching on my pastry, I thought about why they were all so upset. And I finally remembered _why_ James would be so angry. Sirius had only put three girls on that list as ten's, me, Genevieve Lockhart, and Lily Evans. Maybe Sirius did just honestly think that Lily was good looking, but I'm pretty close to positive that he wasn't planning on showing that list to James. So now James probably thinks that Sirius has it out for the girl he's been in love with since first year. And the fact that he's never told James this…. Wow, what have I done?

I've torn apart the Mauderer's, that's what.

I sat down next to Sirius, across from a very cross Professor McGonagall. I half expected Sirius to hiss at me or something, but he just stared straight ahead with his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"You two must stop fighting." McGonagall said strictly. I tried my hardest not to laugh. Sirius and I: stop fighting? We had been fighting since fifth year for Godric's sake! Sirius let out an aggravated sigh, but said nothing.

"She always just has to get on my nerves." Sirius muttered quite audibly. I glared at him.

"The only reason I do is because _you_ start it!" I shot back. My good mood was quickly evaporating from being in the presence of his moody one. And I thought I was going to have a not so bad day for once.

"I did nothing to deserve this!" Sirius widened his stormy eyes oh-so-innocently. I snorted unattractively.

"Oh quit being so melodramatic. You told the whole school I was a lesbian! You-"

"Enough." McGonagall cut off what would have been a very interesting argument. I turned to her, sitting ram rock straight in my chair. Now I was furious, with Sirius, with her, with everything.

"You two need to get along. We're not just enforcing this just because. You two will need each other very soon. And you both are much more alike than you think. You are very much involved with the Order of the Phoenix, you are both very, very powerful wizards, and you both have the same headstrong attitude. And perhaps that why you dislike one another, but I'm afraid that you don't understand how mutually important it is that you get along." I scrunched my nose up in distaste. The bit about us both being alike extremely disturbed me in particular.

"Why would we "need" each other?" Sirius used air quotes around "need" and narrowed his eyes at McGonagall. He still wouldn't even glance in my direction.

"You don't know? I thought Professor Dumbledore explained." She looked thoroughly perplexed.

"Uh, we have no idea what you're talking about." I broke in, shaking my head. I wasn't liking the sound of this. There was no way that Sirius and I were ever going to get along again after since we had drifted apart when I had become friends with Lisa and Ali. Right now I really damn wished that they were talking to me. It had been killing me. Why would they abandon me when I needed them the most?

"There are rumors of a prophecy put over your names. It recalls that one of you will die at the hands of You Know Who himself, and the other by one of his Death Eaters. Both of you are supposed to be killed on the same night, but can be saved by one another." I bit my lip. This did not sound good.

"But it's only a rumor, right?" Sirius asked, his voice masked with worry. He leaned forward in his chair, waiting for an answer.

"We can't be sure." She replied gravely. I moaned and put my head in my hands. This was great, just great. We were all silent for a moment, me trying to regain my voice, Sirius sulking.

"You both need to get your grades up, since you are both to be entered in the Order of the Phoenix the moment you graduate. And I assume you both want to be Aurors?" Sirius nodded, seeming comfortable with the idea. I stared Minnie down skeptically.

"I'm dropping out though; I have to go take care of my siblings." Sirius actually looked at me while I said this. He seemed a bit surprised by my announcement. McGonagall shook her head.

"They are in perfect care Miss. Mckinnon. Even if they weren't, we are not going to allow you to "drop out" so to speak." I sputtered with rage, but she shushed me with wise words. "You can still visit them. The Order needs you, as the Aurors do." I now mimicked Sirius by placing my arms over my chest. Danny needs me though…

"I want you two to talk out this new…. Erm issue you've come across. Then you may return to breakfast." She swooped out of the room as if she had been waiting to leave the entire time. After the door closed, a final silence came across us.

I glanced over at his stony demure. He kept his eyes firmly set on the wall in front of him, his stance rigid and unmoving.

"I'm not going to apologize, if that's what you're waiting for." I said. Sirius glared at me.

"I'm not going to apologize either." He retorted.

"You started it, why don't you just apologize first?" I snapped, becoming more and more aware of the growing anger inside of me. I really hoped I wouldn't do the weird black out thing where I always end up hurting someone. Sirius was right in my line of fire…

"Yeah, but my prank didn't affect you really. The school just now thinks you've finally come out." He gave me that arrogant smirk of his, although it seemed a bit forced. My vision wavered from regular to hazy, but I took some deep yoga breaths to calm myself.

"Plus, you've probably just ruined my friendship with James." I half expected him to put in a sarcastic comment, but he just turned his eyes back to the wall. He blinked a few times.

"James always forgives you though. He's just going to be dramatic for a while." I protested. I knew how their fights usually turned out. One of them pissed the other off, they ignored each other for a day or two, and then they punched each other and got over it. I don't see why this would be any different.

"No, I really don't think he's going to forgive me this time." Sirius said, dropping his voice so it was more of a whisper. I looked over at him. His brows were knotted together, he's expression worried.

"Oh come on, just because you think Lily's good looking? Would he rather you think she looks ugly? He would be a bit pissed off either way Sirius, he's just being dramatic." Sirius shook his head. I sighed in annoyance and leaned back in my chair. I can tell how this was going to be, and I wasn't in the mood to deal with his stubbornness.

"That chart wasn't based off of just looks." He said. I slowly turned my head towards him again, now narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

"Then what was it based off of?" I almost regretted asking the second I did.

"Sexual appeal, Snogging ability… etcetera…"

"You didn't." I gaped at him. Now I could see why James was so pissed. I must have imagined it, but I could have sworn that Sirius blushed.

"No, of course I didn't shag her. But I did… kiss her a bit." Holy shit. I gaped at him in shock. I always knew Sirius was a whore, but doing this to James object of lust? I knew for a fact that this was breaking Mauderer code, times a billon.

"When? How? _Why_?" The questions rolled out of my mouth before I could stop them or regret what their answers might be.

"Last year we were at a Christmas party. James and some others were home, but Lily, I, and the few other people who stayed wanted to make Christmas Eve a bit more interesting. So I grabbed some drinks and… we had a pretty good time. Lily actually was drinking a bit, but you and I both know that she would never let herself get that drunk. So I… kind of confounded her. I took her into a broom closet and we kissed."

"Oh Merlin. Even I'm not that awful." Sirius took a deep breath and brushed a stray hair from his eyes. I noticed for once how upset he seemed. I mean, I knew he had a tough life, but usually he just pushed it aside and pretended like he didn't care. But he had James then.

"Does James know what happened now?" He bobbed his head sluggishly.

"Lily too." I groaned.

"Sirius, how could you mess up this badly?" He shrugged and ran his fingers through his hair before looking at me. We met eyes.

"What do you think I should do?" I felt my facial feature contort together. Did I hear him right? Was Sirius Black really asking _me_ for help? Actually I wasn't bad at giving advice, and I had before. I had helped Lisa figure out how to break up with this Hufflepuff dimwit she was dating back in fourth year. I always helped my girls with their guy issues. But friendship issues… not so much.

"Um… apologize?" I suggested lamely. Sirius gave me a _gee thanks_ kind of look and I grinned hopefully.

"I'll just have to figure it out on my own. Just leave me alone, okay? I don't have time for our little game anymore." He stood up abruptly. I followed his actions, not wanting to be left alone in Minnie's office.

"Fine. Fine with me!" I raised my head majestically, putting my nose up in the air snootily. He rolled his storm-cloud colored eyes at me before gracefully sauntering out of the room. I watched as the mahogany door closed behind him.

"Guess what?" I found Lisa sitting on Amos Diggory's lap by the Quidditch Pitch. Her head was buried in his neck when I rudely interrupted by plopping on the ground next to them. Lisa and I hadn't talked since when she and Ali confronted me, but her green hazel eyes seemed warm enough when she raised her head and met mine.

"Marlene." She greeted me stiffly. But I could tell that she was longing to talk to me. She and Amos must have started dating finally by the looks of them. She slid off of his lap but snuggled up to his side and laced her fingers through his.

"I think I broke up the Mauderer's." I watched as her guard immediately dropped. Ever since our rivalries with them had started, all we had ever dreamed of was breaking up their inexplicable friendship. And since I had just done it, singlehandedly, she's got to be proud. She sat up, her eyes growing wide and her mouth dropping open. I grinned, not even trying to act conceited for once.

"No way. How? Holy Merlin… you're going to be a legend." She smiled at me for the first time in weeks, and only absentmindedly pecked Amos on the lips once he got up to leave. He must have sensed our upcoming girly moment.

"I hung up a list of Black's "ratings" of girls… and Lily Evans was on it." She nodded, trying to contain another simper.

"I'm proud." She said. We both we're quiet for a moment, when she suddenly burst out an apology.

"Hey Marls… I'm really sorry about being a bitch about you becoming friends with Lily. I know Ali's still mad, but honestly, it was just kind of a dumb concept anyways. Are we cool?" I threw my arms around her when she wasn't even done talking, and she giggled when I knocked her over into the lush but dying quickly grass.

"Get off of me you lesbo." She joked, shoving me so I was lying next to her. I laughed easily.

"Do you think Ali will forgive me soon?" I asked hopefully. She rolled her eyes playfully, but nodded. I couldn't help but sigh a bit in relief.

"She's just upset about you breaking our promise, but honestly you're not the only one who has." Well that made sense, I would be a bit pissed off too, but I think that they will both like Lily Evans once they get to know her. "So when are you and Sirius going to shag already?" Lisa asked randomly, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"What are you talking about? Sirius…? No way in hell." She bobbed her head at me when I restated his name. I was utterly confused.

"Oh come on, the world of Hogwarts can tell that he has a thing for you." I snort-laughed.

"No thanks, I do not want to be his next girl of the month to let off his hormonal steam." I shook my head at the thought. Sirius had tried to use me before, and there was no bloody way I was coming that close to falling for it again. It was back in fourth year before I and the Mauderer's went our separate ways….

"Marlene." Sirius moaned against my lips. I ran my fingers through his silky hair and quieted him quickly. I had always thought our lips felt right together. We both often fought for the lead, but eventually let the other win. Right now I pressed mine against his fiercely while he surrenders to me. It was heavenly; these snogging sessions we had a lot of lately. They were nothing like the sweet first kiss he had given me.

I kissed down his chin until I reached his neck. Then I proceeded to the soft spot I knew he had, and planted little kisses around it while he shivered. Even though I wasn't technically his girlfriend (not yet at least), I knew it all felt so right. Aw, look at me, getting all soft.

"You're beautiful." He whispered while I moved my face up close to his. I breathed against his lips, making him smile.

"Don't make me regret this." I purred planting little kisses along his lower lip.

"Regret what?" He asked cockily, sliding his hands up under my tank top to rest then on my bare hips. His hands were warm against my skin, and I felt tingles running through me. How lame, he made me tingle.

"You know what I mean." I took a few heavy breaths.

"I won't."

We left the closet chatty, but didn't talk the rest of that week.

I was walking with Ali, one of my new-coming friends at the time, when we both heard some very… sexual noises coming from the boy's dorm room.

"Let's check it out." She whispered, giving me that mischievous grin that she would raise whenever I was around. We pressed our ears against the doors, listening to the moans and kissing noises. I wondered if it was Potter in there. Once a heavy-breathing filled silence aroused, Lisa cracked open the door to see who it was.

You can pretty much guess what happened from there. We peeked in, and of course I recognized his dark hair. At the time, he wasn't known for being a whore, but I had heard a few rumors. I wasn't exactly heartbroken, but I wasn't very happy about it. And I guess that was how the Mauderer's and I didn't get along much after that, since Sirius and I fought all of the time and when we didn't there was too much tension in the air. I wouldn't say sexual tension, because we never did get to second base. I never trusted him again.

"Snap out of it." Lisa clapped in front of me, and I blinked out of my trance.

"Sorry." I commented casually.

"What were you thinking about?" She inquired me. I fell into these flashback trances a lot, even though I hadn't this year yet. I wasn't sure why…

"Why I will never again become anything more than friends with Sirius Black." I threw out. Before she could ask me anything, I pulled out my unfinished D.A.D.A essay. I searched for a quill in my cluttered tote. I knew Minnie wasn't kidding about keeping my grade up, and I wasn't going to screw up my chance to become an Auror again.

Lisa, sensing my mood, just pulled out her wand and absentmindedly began shooting different colored sparks out the end. When she shot out an orange streak, I couldn't help but grin. I knew she would come around eventually, but I was still glad to have her back.

_**Hey yall! I'm not going to bore you with a super long author's note, so here it goes. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks for those of you who have, and those of you who have favorited/alerted this, and to those of you who are even reading it (although I would like a review :p) I love you guys!**_

_**~Alaina**_


End file.
